Dear Future Racer

Dear Future Racer, 

I am writing this to you on my last day as a world racer, having completed this commitment set before me. I thought to write and tell whomever it may concern just a few things I learned this year to help along this journey and ease any questions, known or unknown, you may have about the year. 

1. Be yourself (cliché I know, but it’s a cliché for a reason). This year, you will spend everyday with people of different backgrounds, with different testimonies, and different relationships with the Lord. Don’t try to adopt another person’s faith. Instead, ask the Lord what he wants to reveal to you for YOUR part of the body of Christ. It will be a long year if you decide to be a fake version of yourself. 
2. Pack those vans, girl. I left behind a lot of clothing that I love back home for the sake of “missionary packing” and “abandonment” but the truth is, there’s a lot you are stripped of on the field and clothing is the least of your worries. Do yourself a favor and pack those fashion items that make you feel like yourself. Because ask anyone, if you don’t bring it you’ll eventually buy it on the field. 
3. Eat your greens. Food on the race is (most of the time) out of your control. You will eat more rice and beans in this year than you have collectively your entire life. Embrace it, be aware that your body might change, and splurge on your veggies whenever you get the chance. Your body will thank you later. 
4. Test everything with Scripture. Your relationship with God is your priority. Dedicate yourself to learning, with deep reverence, God’s revelation through his Word. In a world that will throw incomplete truths your way, it is imperative that you know for yourself what the Word of God says about who he is. 
5. Don’t disappear. Your community on the race is very important, and so is your community back at home- don’t forget about them. Make an effort to be connected with friends, family, and church community back home if you’re able because their faith and growth in the Lord is just as important as those in Africa. Your ministry can be just as prominent and edifying for the loved ones you left behind. 
6. Ask Questions! The phrase “where is that in Scripture” will become your best friend. Deuteronomy 29:29 says “the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” There are things of God we will never know and we have to find peace with that; but, the things God has revealed to us are sacred and should be treated as such. Be sure you know what those things are. 
7. Have grace. This goes both for the people you are spending every day with and for yourself. Living with people with no escape for a year is tough- especially when you are so different (and let me tell you, our squad is different). Learn to breathe, to pray for patience, and for understanding. You’re gonna need it. But also have grace for yourself. You’re not going to be best friends with everyone and that’s OKAY! Sometimes the best way you can love someone is to learn you can connect with them in small doses only. Don’t think you need the same relationship with everyone, but understand how every different relationship is going to have its own unique love and appreciation. And if you lose it sometimes, learn to apologize and move on. This is a lesson you’ll learn for the entirety of your life, so don’t beat yourself up that you haven’t perfected relationships in one year. 
8. Money, honey. Fundraising is tough and uncomfortable sometimes but it’s a necessity for the life of a missionary. The number you will fundraise for the field covers the bare minimum on the race. My advice would be to fundraise extra either monthly or before you launch to pay for items on the field such as shampoo, soap, adventures, and food other than rice, beans, and eggs. Doesn’t have to be much, you’d be shocked how far $20 can get you in other countries. 
9. Be honest. The race is challenging for lots of reasons, one of those reasons is that it’s a great mirror. It will show you your faults and the ways in which you need to grow in Godliness. Be honest with yourself about the ways you need to and are being lead by convictions to do so. Don’t be blind to yourself and don’t be offended when your squad mate reminds you that you aren’t perfect. It’s easier said then done, but regardless, get it done. 
10. No expectations! The World Race is not life, it’s only a part of your life. It’s another year of your life with the Lord that will inevitably have its ups and downs. Try not to set expectations of what ministry should be like, or how you want your squad mates to be like, or even about how you will grow. Just be. Let the Lord lead the direction the year will go and let him surprise you with the lessons you didn’t even know you needed to learn. 

This year will be a myriad of things from fun, long, hard, enlightening, sanctifying, adventurous, tiring, relational, exhausting, and redefining. Through it all, during and after, be for the Church of Christ. A large percentage of vocational missionaries never return or even belong to a house of God. Don’t think of yourself so unrelatable from your year abroad that you forsake your responsibility to be apart of a church community wherever the Lord will lead you. On the field it’s with your squad mates, your ministry hosts and their respectful communities. At home, it’s a local church, big or small, that you should dedicate yourself to. No church is perfect, no country is perfect, and no society is perfect; yet, Christ is the beautiful bridge that connects the imperfect to the Holy in the passionate pursuit of his rebellious children. Be for the church as Christ is for the church. 

The last thing I will leave you with is this:

HAVE FUN!

Laughter will be your great medicine this year. It surely has been mine. Laugh at yourself, at others (if appropriate), and at the many funny things you will bump into on the race. I have been and seen many things this year, but the most memorable moments are the times I am wheezing from laughs with my squad mates. Soak it up.

You were called, chosen, lead, and commissioned for where you are. The Lord gives strength for what he calls us to and you will survive, I promise. Be sad when you’re homesick, be present when you’re ministering, and be prayerful always. 

That was a lot, but I hope this helps.

Your advocate always, a world race alum.